[Gene]

It sounds like she might be trying to initiate play. Puppies bite and growl, when with their litter mates that is what they do and if they get too exuberant the mother will step in. Sometimes they can throw hissy fits when they are over tired.

You may want to get a nice pair of thick gardening gloves. Also she is probably teething and wants stuff to chew on. After walking, playing whatever I would crate her with a wet frozen washcloth or a frozen banana sliced down the middle (gets half/quarter} and let her relax.

You want to keep hand feeding her meals. This builds a bond of trust and respect you are engaging with her as opposed to just setting the bowl down and walking away. With the paw stuff I would try a small piece of chicken wipe the paw. Small piece of cheese, wipe the paw. At this time you do not want to be correcting her for these actions. The puppy doesn’t understand what the correction is for. You become the Fun Police. I would do just a simple “Let’s Go” and into the crate. There are over 30 videos on the site relating to puppy issues.

[Gene]

You have to get him before he goes off. Once he starts to go into what I call “La La Land” basically just hang on and remove him but he is beyond taking direction so you are back to square one.

You want to look for subtle changes in his body language which give you a heads up that he is about to throw a hissy fit. Signs such as his head may jut forward and or his ears perk up, that is when the correction occurs. He may start to crouch/recoil as if he is about to lunge etc. Lets say you are exiting your house and the dog is out next door. When he orientates towards the other dog and his body language shows signs that he is going on alert, he is immediately brought back into the house. No correction just a calm “Lets Go” wait maybe 20 seconds and try again, trust me he will catch on as to what you want after a few exits. You will probably have to do the same procedure the next day but he will get the message. When you are out in the backyard and the other dog is let out you should be able to see a change in him right away. Remove him 7/10 steps then bring him right back to where you were or try a step or two closer. I know this is a complicated issue to deal with but your main objective is to get him before he goes off.

He may not be aggressive, he may just have bad manners.

[Gene]

What I mean by engage is that when he follows he gets a treat if he looks at you he gets a treat/praise, mostly treats for know.

[Gene]

So what I am reading into your post is that it is a rescue dog or you got him from a private owner and haven’t had him for very long. He may have trust issues as opposed to being out right aggressive. We don’t know his past and we can’t sit down at the kitchen table and discuss it. You want to build structure but for now you can just lure and shape. I wouldn’t ask the dog for anything at this point. You don’t want to be correcting him all the time. I would leave the lead on him around the house while you are there. Also you can get what they call a traffic leash that are about 16″ inches. Use the lead to have the dog follow you and engage with you to build trust. I would try a casual approach. Every time I want to move him, it is a casual “let’s go” and start walking, not using a direct command. When he is excited and doesn’t want to go in the crate move him, maybe ten steps into another room then right back and repeat, repeat, until he calms down. You are not demanding that he goes in. You want him to go in on his own. Once he calms down he should want to go in. Watch the crate training vids.

Also, if he is unsure of himself you want to watch him around the kids. Sometimes the kids are at eye level or just over and he sees them as subordinates. They can stare at him inadvertently and he may take that as a challenge. So you and your husband do the moving and the kids can give him treats and affection.

[Gene]

This is for reactivity to the neighbor’s dog. Leash reactivity towards other dogs can be a problem. This issue has come up numerous times on Ask Me Anything. It is a unique problem because you need others to pitch in. You have to find someone with a balanced dog and you know can control the dog and it has to be worked on a regular basis so it is a hard thing to do.

Go to the Lesson section and go to Lesson Categories and scroll to Leash Training, click it on. Numerous videos will pop up on this subject. Go to page 2, there is a dog named Koda. a GSD I would start there. Do the same exercise but you are trying to get to the fence. Maybe you can have your neighbor keep the other dog calm. A few items to note, no treats are used, no corrections are given, if I remember correctly, no commands are given either, maybe a “Sit”. The main verbiage is “Let’s Go”. When you get to the fence (it may take some time) I would give each dog a treat. Just keep it up until you get to the fence with a calm pup.

[Gene]

Welcome. Lots of great stuff on this site. Also, many experienced people to get feedback from and different perspectives.

[Gene]

Our adoption rate is over 90%

[Gene]

So at our shelter dogs that come in sick or have been neglected for a long period of time are sent immediately to the vet. The Veterinarian makes the decision on whether or not the dog should be put to sleep. When a dog can be saved all medical bills are paid without a second thought.

Dogs with poor social skills (I am talking about just being knuckleheads, I call them “exuberant”, are not considered for euthanasia. They sit at the shelter unless they do something stupid. Certain people will work with them.<font face=”inherit”> The purebred that are hard to control we try to get them into a rescue say a Rottweiler or German </font>Shepherd.

At our shelter it is 3 strikes (bites) and you’re out, generally. Hard decisions are made all the time. I will give you a for instance. A stray 60lb pit bull came in and after a couple of days he started humping the people that were walking him. That is a bad sign. So now he is not getting walked except for a couple of people. He goes from the inside cage to the outside cage. He becomes frustrated and latched onto the back of a persons thigh.

Now volunteers really don’t want to mess around with him. There are only two, maybe 3 volunteers that have the experience to interact with this dog. This is one example. We take dogs in from kill shelters. They will call and say they have 4 highly adoptable dogs they can send us. Now we can only take 3. A month later a kill shelter calls and says they will send us 3, but we can only take 2.

Is it right that this dog sits at the shelter for 6/7 months or longer waiting for a VERY experienced person to come thru the door while maybe 5/6 dogs got put down in Kentucky?

This is a cruel to look at it but some dogs are holding up the line. To keep your sanity you say I had to let one go but I saved 3 or 4.

[Gene]

I would put her in the crate say 3 times a day for an hour or so, especially after a walk. This will let her know that she must go into her crate at times. Slice the banana down the middle.

[Gene]

Get him as comfortable as possible. After tonight and tomorrow day I would try again at night, You have to keep it up.